crazy psycho ferret time. part 2
~*BonnieLea*~

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its crazy psycho ferret time!
~*BonnieLea*~

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Wonderful weekends :o)

Weekends :o)

I love the weekends.




I get a break from babysitting, Rayce is home, the boys are here... it's just a good thing.



I'm feeling a little miserable today with *terrible* cramps that mean I won't be able to drive to Syracuse like planned :o( but I'm gonna do my best to have a good day with the kiddos anyway.



After the amazing day that Halloween turned out to be, it is a goal of mine to do some kind of project with the kids at every opportunity.



Today, we're going to make rice crispy treats and cookies that the kids will be able to decorate themselves with icing and sprinkles :o)



Pictures will follow later on!



Enjoy your weekend!!!

liliya admits it. shes a baby dork :o) sooooo stinkin cute!
~*BonnieLea*~

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ready for the day, waiting for the bus :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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goodnight :-*
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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Preschool

Charlize, Holden, and probably (hopefully) my nephew Jonathan will all be starting preschool next fall.

I'm always trying to think of ways to challenge and stimulate their little minds, give them a little bit of a head start and a leg up.

I'm always trying to get us into more of a routine.

I'm always trying to find more things to keep the kids busy without having the TV on so much of the time.

My biggest issue has been sticking with it. I can never seem to make myself stick with anything.

But I have a plan. Plans are nothing new with me. Sticking with it will be the new thing. If it happens. But I have faith that if I can MAKE myself stick with it for just 2 weeks, I won't want to go back.

My plan, my goal is to have a preschool program with the kids for 2 hours a day. By January. When Rayce goes back to school in January, that's when we'll start.

Nothing serious. Just sitting down with the kids for an hour or two every morning and reading, doing arts and crafts, learning colors and letters and letter sounds, that kind of thing.

I have SOOOOO many resources. and soooooo many awesome ideas, I just never put them to use.

So, for the next couple months I'm going to be getting my plans together, organizing my ideas, etc etc etc. I'm going to be researching activity ideas online, adding them to the lesson plans I already have, making copies and putting it all together into one cohesive plan.

I don't have the space or even enough kids to set up real 'learning centers' but we can do one activity at a time as a group.

Liliya will be 2 in January and I feel that she could definitely begin to learn colors and shapes and maybe even letters. Dante would *definitely* be able to start learning some letters, he'll be 3 in February.

Holden, Charlize, and Jonathan will all be 4 next spring/summer and I think learning some more things before they start school in the fall will help them out a lot.

I worked with Rayce so much when he was younger, and he's so smart, ahead of a lot of his class, and doing wonderfully in school. I wish I had had more time to work with the other kids from the beginning, but there were just too many kids too close in age when they were babies. Now that they're older it'll be easier, and I still feel like I have the chance to give them a head start.

I'm excited :o)

Rest in Peace Great Grandma

Ione S. Slaughenhaupt


of Great Bend, PA


Ione S. Slaughenhaupt, was born Ione Sarah Hunt to David and Ada Hunt on May 26, 1911 in Port Allegany, PA. She died and passed into the presence of her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ on October 29, 2009 in Great Bend, PA, where she had been residing with her daughter and son-in-law, George and Loreen Parsons. Ione was a devoted mother to thirteen children, a diligent homemaker and faithful Baptist pastor's wife. She served for many years alongside her husband, George Slaughenhaupt who preceded her in death in 1978. She was also predeceased by her oldest daughter, Shirley Amacher. She is survived by four sons, Donald Slaughenhaupt of Mortons Corners, NY, George Russell Slaughenhaupt, Eden, NY, John Slaughenhaupt, Panama City, FL, and Edward Slaughenhaupt of Gussison, CO; seven daughters, Patricia Couch, Emory, TX, Loreen Parsons, Great Bend, PA, Judy Childs, Dimmitt, TX, Linda Rushing, Duluth, GA, Cynthia Delgado, Coos Bay, OR, Nancy Slaughenhaupt, Burlington, WI and Mary McGrath, Maine, NY; one brother, James Hunt, Apple Valley, CA; one sister, Pauline Houben, Edred, PA; 49 grandchildren; 96 great grandchildren; and 27 great great grandchildren.


A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at the Portville Baptist Church, 24 Temple Street, Portville, NY 14770. Interment will be made in the Lamphier Cemetery, Eldred, PA. Friends may call Monday from 7-9 p.m. at the Tuttle-Yeisley Funeral Home, Hallstead, PA and Tuesday from 10-11 a.m. at the church, prior to the service.

liliya passed out for nap early. its that darn daylight savings time!!
~*BonnieLea*~

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liliya singing the n song from fisher price alphabet singalongs <3
~*BonnieLea*~

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cinnamon and neville
~*BonnieLea*~

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October/Halloween Pictures :o)

This is an incredibly long picture post!! I haven't posted pics on the blog in a couple weeks and I've been getting some great shots, especially with our Halloween preview last week.

Halloween was *wonderful*!!! We hadn't done any fall activities yet, so I was feeling pretty guilty.

Halloween morning I had to take Charlize to the walk-in. She has a stye inside her eyelid which is infected. She's on antibiotics and we're using a warm compress for 10 minutes 4-6 times a day. Today it's actually looking *more* swollen, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the treatment works and it looks better by tomorrow morning.

Mom raked in the backyard while the kids played outside while Charlize and I were at the doctor. When we got back, we had lunch, cleaned up, and the fun began. The kids tried their hands at cleaning out pumpkin guts. Then Grampa and Mima showed up and showed them how it was done. Dad cleaned out the pumpkins and Mima carved them. The kids played outside all afternoon. I baked pumpkin seeds. The kids all had a bath and got into their costumes. It was raining but it stopped just in time to trick or treat. I took Holden and Dante back to their mom at 5, then Rayce, Charlize, Liliya and I went up and down our street. They got a little bit of candy and had a blast. As is our Halloween tradition, we went to visit Michelle, who was Anthony's boss at Home Good back when Rayce was born. We have visited her every Hallween since Rayce was just a year old, she lives around the corner from where we lived in Endwell.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. Once of my favorite days ever!! Really!

I'm really looking forward to Thanksgiving... the same togetherness without the stress of getting the kids prettied up for trick-or-treating!!

So, here are the best of the pictures from the last week or two :o)

lovely. worse than it was yesterday. ughhhhh. walk in tomorrow if it doesnt get better today :-/
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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rayce passed out in mamas bed. of course the girls were up before 7. thanks daylight savings time! not!
~*BonnieLea*~

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halloween! break time just before baths and costumes!
~*BonnieLea*~

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he ate too much candy
~*BonnieLea*~

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charlize at the walk in on halloween.
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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our backyard. the yellow wonderland
~*BonnieLea*~

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I HAVE to

Learn how to sew. Seriously. I NEED to make the kids quilts from Anthony's clothes.

And I want to get all these clothes for the dolls I'm getting the girls for Christmas, but the prices are ridiculous. I refuse to pay more for doll clothes than I do for kids clothes.

The solution? Learn how to sew and buy a few sets of patterns for doll clothes.

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/chaneylakegirl/items/Simplicity_4268_15_in_Bitty_Twins_doll_clothes_patterns

Look at all those cute patterns. I could totally live vicariously through my kids and give them the doll wardrobe I wish I had when I was little. Using those patterns and cute material that *I* pick out, their dolls could have awesome clothes.

I need to learn how to sew. Simple as that.

thats 2 little noses. cinnamon and sage curled up together
~*BonnieLea*~

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Bad day yesterday

I had a bad day yesterday.

I was tired. I had a terrible headache. My back hurt. I have no idea why, but my back hurt. Badly. I was irritable and snippy beyond belief.

The kids weren't too crazy. I just felt like crap.

It took me two and a half hours to scrub out the ferret cage. I mean SCRUB. I took everything out, scrubbed it, scrubbed down the actual cage, took out the plexiglass bottoms and scrubbed them... it was a workout. And I'm really sick of these ferret crapping whereever they feel like it. There are 3 littlerboxes in that cage, there is no reason they should be backing into random corners. All of their bedding is falling apart and I really need to get them new hammocks and hideouts and everything but I can't afford to spend money on the ferrets this close to Christmas and when so much work needs to be done to my van.

Then my sister was late picking up her kids, so I was late picking up Holden and Dante. Which isn't a catastrophe, but it's freaking reallllly frustrating when she's late every single Tuesday, when she knows that every single Tuesday, if I watch her kids, I need her to pick them up by 345. I only get the boys for 3 hours on Tuesday... and every single week, without fail, I lose at *least* half an hour of that time because Linda is late, every single time. Ok, not every *single* time. We started this arrangement at the beginning of September. So out of 8 weeks, she was on time *once*. About 3 weeks ago. It's frustrating. And if it happens again I'm going to have to tell her that I'm not available to babysit on Tuesdays anymore.

Then I started dinner too late. I meant to put the roast in the crock pot in the morning and I didn't. I started it at 5 when I got home with the boys. Then Mom called right after I started browning it and told me it was too late, so I should do the pork roast on the grill. I didn't flipping feel like doing anything else. So I continued to cook what I was cooking and I ended up feeding the kids macaroni and cheese and sugar snap peas because the roast wasn't done in time.

When I dropped the boys off, they didn't wanna get out of the van. Which is typical for Holden. But Dante is always excited to go home, and for the last week, every time I drop him off he has a fit and says he wants to stay with me. Which is hard. I know Megan would let me keep them more if I asked. But I have soooo much going on and 5 rambunctious kids is a LOT of work, especially at bedtime when Rayce NEEDS to be to sleep by 8 or I'll have to drag him out of bed in the morning. I really feel like I'm doing all I can at this moment. If I wasn't babysitting Linda's kids, I could handle Holden and Dante more. But I can't handle both sets of kids at once, 7 kids age 5 and under is too many kids. And I have to babysit Linda's kids because it's the only thing I can do at home to make a little bit of money, which we really *need*.

I'm so stuck between a rock and a hard place. And it's frustrating. Very frustrating.

lmao. sage is sleeping like this. butt hanging out. poor fat ferret lolllll
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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me and samson. man this dog has some serious cataracts!
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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liliya @ 21 months. 25

liliya @ 21 months. 25 lbs 32 3/4 inches. holy cow!
~*BonnieLea*~

charlize @ 40 months. 37

charlize @ 40 months. 37 inches and 30 pounds even :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

dress rehearsal
~*BonnieLea*~

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Whew, it's been a crazy one

It was chaotic today.

It is most days, true.

But it was especially chaotic today.

The kids were up till after 1030 last night, and they were up at 7am anyway.

I left the house a mess last night. I let the kids stay up, hoping they would sleep in. So I didn't clean up. So when I came downstairs this morning, bright and early, I fed the kids, changed diapers, and had to clean up, sweep, and mop first thing.

Of course.

As soon as I was done, the kids dropped pieces of bananananana on the floor and then stepped on it. On purpose.

Then they spilled juice. Two cups of it. On accident.

It feels like such a lost cause some days.

I gave the kids all a bath before naptime.

Most days when I have Holden and Dante I give them all a bath before I take the boys home. But it's so hectic trying to get everyone fed and then bathed and then dressed in such a short period of time. So I decided to do it at naptime today.

My kids don't all fit in the tub anymore. But they have a fit everytime I try to split them up into 2 or 3 tub fulls. If I just put a couple of them in the bath at once, I can't keep the other kids out of the bathroom and out of trouble long to bathe the ones in the tub! So, this has been a dilemma lately. They usually end up all going in at once but then the hair washing is a *serious* challenge. Because there is no room for anyone to lay down to rinse. And since they're getting older I feel like they need to start taking baths seperately anyway.

*Sigh*. What's a Mama to do?!

~*~*~*~*~

For the last several months, Holden has been calling me Bonnie occassionally. Dante has always called me Bonnie more than Mama. But I was Mama to Holden for 2 1/2 years. I was the one who got up with him at night. I was the one who fed him his first bowl of baby cereal, who gave him his baths, who tucked him into bed at night. He always called me Mama. And it hurts my feelings when he calls me Bonnie. I tell him that yes, I am not his mother... Megan is his mother. I am his stepmother, and I have taken care of him a lot, and he can call me Mama if he wants to. Megan said she didn't mind if he called me Mama. Of course that was 1 1/2 years ago, maybe she feels differently now and she's told him not to call me Mama, I don't know.

Since I had that discussion with him he's called me Bonnie less. But it still stings when he does :o(

Speaking of Holden, I have been having a really hard time with him lately. He's always been stubborn and a bully. But it's been getting worse. He will just WAIL on Dante if Dante ticks him off. Like knock him down and punch him repeatedly. He's started spitting. He's been biting Dante as well. Of course Dante never gave up the biting so I can't tell if that part os Holden retaliating or what. He is so defiant.

I KNOW that probably half of that, if not more, is because of everything he's been through. That poor baby has been through more than any of us. He not only lost his father (which was even worse for him because he was *totally* Daddy's boy), he lost his stepmom (not completely but pretty much... I had been his primary caretaker since he came home from the hospital) and the home and family life he knew, all in one blow. He was only 2. He was old enough to know things were very, very different but not old enough to process any of it. My poor Bubba :'o(

I know that one day all of these kids will be old enough to understand everything that happened and appreciate the part I played/play in everything. But for now, it's all so confusing for them.

~*~*~*~*~

It's 820pm and I could go to bed right now! I have been going to bed a LOT earlier, most nights. Some nights I've been knocked out cold by 830. But it's obvious my body needs it, and I've felt better during the day when I get more sleep at night. There is really no reason I should need 10 hours of sleep per night... but hey... ya do what ya gotta do!

Don't forget to go vote for my beautiful babies here at the GAP casting call!!! You can vote every single day!

camp isaac... spaghetti night :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

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hmmmm. i got 20 free christmas cards but i need more. whaddaya think of this one??
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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liliyas masterpiece... apparently someone likes the smell of markers??
~*BonnieLea*~

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rayces masterpiece
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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Step 1 of 'Putting a Smile in My Heart'...

Doing more things *with* the kids. Instead of just sitting nearby or watching them.

Like the coloring we did tonight :o)

Markers, for the first time EVER!

Mama's feeling BRAVE!!!

:-D

SiMH tonight? Yep!

Vote for my babies!!!!!

Vote for my babies at the GAP casting call  here!! You can vote every day!!!

Rayce  

 Holden

Charlize

Dante    

Liliya     

Just thinking

I've been thinking a lot lately.

About things.

Feeling sentimental.

Missing Anthony. Sooo, sooooo much.

Thinking about how things could have been different. How things could have been better.

I don't regret the things I did. Only the things I didn't do.

I think that's how life goes, in general.

I wish I had done more. I wish I had had a different mindset about certain things. Not things I'm going to go into depth about on my very public blog.

Thoughts of a person who thinks too much...

How can I take these thoughts and make TODAY a better day???

Because today is a gift and tomorrow is never a promise. Tomorrow is never guaranteed.


I want to make a point to remind myself of that every day. To make the most of every day. To count my blessings when things get crazy. To count my blessings every night before I fall asleep, to go to bed with a smile in my heart.

its a lazy kind of day for the kiddos while mama works her butt of cleaning bedrooms and putting a million pounds of laundry away :-P
~*BonnieLea*~

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liliya and grampa bob
~*BonnieLea*~

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Vote for my babies!!!!!

Vote for my babies over at the GAP casting call!!! You can vote once a dayyyy!!!

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/campisaacmama/

charlize at the park. enjoying this fall weatherrrrr!
~*BonnieLea*~

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liliya having a fit at the park. she doesnt like having to walk up the stairs to get to the slide...
~*BonnieLea*~

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some older fav pics :o) 2008

Ugh. Photography.

I think about photography every day.

Today I got a new coupon from Sears Portrait Studio. I checked out their website, like I have a few times before. I looked at the portrait packages, priced things out. I looked through their gallery.

Their gallery should be a collection of their best work. Right???

http://www.searsportrait.com/cpi/en-US/portraitshowcase/

A lot of their pictures aren't even that great!! I have taken tons of pictures better than that!

If I had some backgrounds, some props, and lighting... I could totally DO THIS!!!

I swear... I am GOING to find a way to make this work. I don't know how. I don't know when. Hopefully soon. Within the next year. But I AM *going* to make this happen. Because I CAN. I can and I want to.

Photography is my passion. If I could make a living off my passion...

How amazing and incredible would that be?!?!?!?!

~*BonnieLea*~

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charlize at naptime. sock on hand $1. lei around neck $4. mega block tower beside her$7. picturemail sent to blog. priceless.
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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dante
~*BonnieLea*~

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Is Christmas really only 2 months away?!?!?!

 

 

 

 

 

~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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liliya layin w gramma.... gramma's passed out
~*BonnieLea*~

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pics pics pics again

~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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<3 October <3 pics pics pics

October pics... enjoyyyyyy! More to come within the next week!! This week will be the peak of the fall leaves, so I'm hoping to dress the kids up in their costumes for a photo shoot while the leaves are still pretty!!! Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather for us!!!

~*BonnieLea*~

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Whew, looooong week.

It's been a looooooong week.

Having Mom home, all the time... it's kinda nice, and it's kinda not, all at the same time.

When things get stressful... they get *more* stressful, because Mom is home and she gets stressed more easily and more quickly. And when she gets stressed, I get more stressed. When she gets snappy with the kids, I get more snappy. Her ears have been really sensitive since her cerebral aneurysm coiling procedure, and the noise leve gets to her... quickly.

It's LOUD in here. Like... almost all the time.

I had my nephews until 7:30pm last night... almost 11 hours. It was a loooong day. It was a loooong week. And I'm glad it's almost over!

Mom went out tonight, she's going out tomorrow, and it's not just a break for her LOL!!

I picked the boys up tonight. I miss them. I had them Tuesday afternoon/evening, but like I said... it was stressful. I didn't really feel like I got to enjoy them. I didn't really feel like I got to SEE them (hence the lack of expected pictures from Tuesday evening). So I'm looking forward to tonight and tomorrow.

Mom and I got cable hooked up in our bedrooms today. Yayyyy!!! Now I can watch tv in my room! I usually put the kids in bed right around 8 and stay in my room after that. I play on my laptop or watch a DVD (thank you NetFlix!) until I'm ready to pass out. But I missssss tv so much! And now I can watch it!! We got a second DVR also, but for now there's one in Mom's room and one in the living room. With just the cable hooked up in the living room, we don't get Noggin/Nick Jr, and that's the only channel the kids really watch (well... they will watch Nickelodeon and Disney but I can't flipping stand all those obnoxious commercials that leave the kids asking "Mama can we have that? Mama can we get that?" every other flipping minute. And I don't really like them watching SpongeBob... Noggin is just better all around, edcuational, child friendly, and commercial free...). So although I have thought about taking the DVR to my room... it just seems better off downstairs for now. But since the kids go to bed at 8 anyway, I can still watch most of the shows I would wanna watch when they come on, without DVRing them.

Rayce gets his school pictures taken on Wednesday!!! OMGGG!!! I am sooooo excited, I can't wait to see them and get them!!!   :-D

I feel like a kid in a candy store somtimes, with all these new experiences coming left and right.

I had a few rough moments today.

Mom and I went to Fashion Bug. Anthony and I used to go in there, to look for maternity clothes and what-not, and when I was pregnant with Rayce, we made friends with the manager Amy. She helped me find maternity clothes for all 3 pregnancies, we would take the kids in to see her every time we were in Vestal, she helped me pick out my wedding dress, we took her our wedding picture and she hung it up in her house. I couldn't remember if she knew what happened or not, so when I saw her today, I had a serious wave of anxiety wash over me. Turns out she did know. I have no idea if I told her or if she just found out. But then Charlize was telling her "My Daddy has a TV that is pink". I have no idea what she was talking about or thinking about, but it bothered me. Then tonight she came into the kitchen while I was cooking and asked me when we could go to her Daddy's house.

What exactly do I say to my just barely 3 year old who has no concept of death?!?! She doesn't understand 'heaven'. She doesn't get it. At all.

And it really hurts me when things like this come up and I just don't know what to say to help her understand.

It hurts me that I should have to explain (AT ALL) to my kids that their father is gone and he's not coming back, ever. I'm 24 and I still have a hard time accepting that he's gone forever... how can a 3 year old comprehend that?! My poor babies    :'o(

So... yes. It's been a looooong week and I'm glad it's almost over.

sly delvekio
~*BonnieLea*~

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charli: mama what do u

charli: mama what do u want for christmas? me: for u to be happy. charli: but im not a toy. im a plain real girl.

~*BonnieLea*~

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:o) A smile a mile wide

I had an awesome date yesterday.

Rob came down for the day. We met at Applebees, had lunch, ran to Sam's for diapers and wipes, came back to the house, he met the kids (which went awesome... I think my kids are trying to steal him away from me!), I grilled steaks for dinner, put the kids to bed, and we watched a movie. It was sooooo nice! I hate to get my hopes up... but I *really* like him. We've only known each other for a couple months, but I already *really* like him :o)    The kids, my mom and my sister all reallllly like him to :-D

The weather has been *perfect* the last few days. Beautiful, crisp, fall weather. I'm thinking another fall photo shoot is in order... I'm hoping that the weather is just as awesome tomorrow, when I have all 5 kiddos, so I can get some great shots of Camp Isaac.  Weather.com says 57 and sunny tomorrow eveningggggg!!! That excites me verrrry much, to think of the photo possibilities!!

I'm trying to figure out when we can make it to the pumpkin farm. Last year we went on a weekend and it was CRAZY. We left after a few pictures. We vowed to go on a weekday the next time around. BUT, Rayce is at school on the weekdays now. And late afternoons are just no good for us... the kids get crazy too quickly. I'm thinking... maybe we'll go on Friday or Monday over this long weekend coming up. Hmmmm.

I'm thinking about Halloween too. I really want to get Holden and Dante Batman and Robin costumes. Wouldn't that be flipping cute?!? Rayce is going to be a dragon, Charlize is going to be a monarch butterfly, and Liliya is going to be a pirate. I'd like to put them in their costumes sometime in the next week or so while it's nice out and get some pictures. Just in case Halloween isn't as nice. And you all know how crazy I am about pictures :o)

Pictures and photography in general.... always on my mind. I think every single day about how to go about making this into a side job/paying hobby kind of thing. For right now, there isn't much I can do. I'm taking all the pictures I can of my kids and friends kids, getting lots of practice. Within the next 6 months I'm going to get a couple different lenses, and next spring/summer... I think I'll be ready to take on some inexpensive family/kid photo shoots. Considering I will have to pay a babysitter to keep the kids busy while I go to do these shoots, I'm thinking I'll charge maybe $25 for an hour long shoot. Then I'll take the 20/30 or so best pics, edit them, and burn them onto a CD for the family. I KNOW I can do this. I have a good camera, a decent eye, and an amazing excitement for photography. I've gotta make it work!

If I can go back to school in the fall of 2010, I'm going to make it a point to take a photography class as an elective. Just like I knew/know all the human services classes will help me when I finally become a teacher... I KNOW that a photography class would serve me well. I need to learn more about the technical aspects of photography.

Anyway, enough for now. I've got laundry, picking  up, and sweeping to accomplish. Not to mention grocery shopping that will have to be squeezed in sometime today!

liliya
~*BonnieLea*~

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rob and i
~*BonnieLea*~

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having the most awesome date

having the most awesome date ever. lunch at applebees, shopping at sams club, then dinner w the kids :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

liliya passed out with charlizes doll cici
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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this dog is way too comfy in *my* bed
~*BonnieLea*~

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FWD: my kids just got

FWD: my kids just got down an entire tub of margerine and smeared it all over the floor and rolled in it
~*BonnieLea*~

liliya trying on her pirate costume!
~*BonnieLea*~

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rayce : i look happy when im half dinosaur
~*BonnieLea*~

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Tuesday Complaints

I dislike Tuesdays just as much as I dislike Mondays.

I didn't sleep well last night. I was trying to wait up for Mom to get home. I failed. Passed out. But Mom did wake me up to say hi when she did finally get in.

I have this terrible *something* on my side. A spider bite, maybe, or a really bad pimple. It HURTS. Badly. It's annoying.

My carpal tunnel or whatever nerve issues are getting bad in my right hand. My neck hurts. Must have slept on it wrong.

Guess I feel like complaining today. It's gray and rainy and cloudy. And blah.

Rayce and I had a hard time getting up this morning. First me, then him. He didn't wanna get up. "Maaaaaaama, I'm still tiiiiiiiiired".  "Yes, Rayce, so am I, but you have to get up and get dressed anyway, we're running a little late this morning". Blahhhh.

I think I might have to try and get Rayce in bed at 730 instead of 8. He's tired every morning. He's just not a morning person. But I think pushing bedtime up half an hour might be worth a shot for a few days to see if it helps.

I went and got Rayce a costume last night. It's a dinosaur/dragon, and he loves it. I bought it a size big so he could have it to play dress up with after and so it would fit for a while.

That's one thing on my Christmas list for the kids, is dress up clothes. At the PAL center, that's one of the things they play with a LOT. The dress up clothes and the kitchen stuff. I'm gonna keep my eyes open on Craigslist for costumes for the next few weeks and see if I can snatch any up cheap to hold onto till Christmas.

I found a doll at Wal Mart that I really want to get for Charlize, too. An 18 inch doll and some really cute clothes. She's so into her dolls lately. And that makes me happy, cuz I loved dolls too, and I still do, and having girls who play with dolls gives me an excuse to play with them too :-D

I'm going to buy some fleece and some velcro and make little diapers for the girls dolls for Christmas, also. Fleece is so easy to work with, it's no sew, doesn't fray, and I can just sew tiny velcro tabs on and we'll be set. The girls will love them!

I'm kind of at a loss for what to get the boys. I know I want to get them Lincoln Logs. And I want to get Rayce some science-y stuff like a magnifying glass and maybe a little child friendly microscope. I want to get Holden some non-violent action figures. He loves Power Rangers but they all carry weapons. I wonder if the toys have weapons too. Maybe I could get Holden some Toy Story action figures or something like that. Hmmm. Dante loves vehicles. All vehicles. And ride on toys. So I've gotta come up with some specific ideas for him too. And arts and crafts for all the kids :o)

Mom's surgery is tomorrow and I'm stressing but I know stressing doesn't help anything. So I'm trying to think positive thoughts.

K, enough for now... got stuffs to doooo.

ETA: I just saw something that I am totally getting for Rayce for Christmas if I can find one... a Zhu Zhu Pet hamster. He has always asked for one of those interactive pet toys and I have never gotten him one, so when I saw this... he has to have it. The 'habitats' for the things are ridiculously expensive, so I think we'll just be going with the hamster. And I KNOW he will *loooooove* it. I am so excited!

It was a long week without Mom here, and this week is going to be long again.

Mom flies in tonight at 1030, works tomorrow and has her cerebral aneurysm coiling done on Wednesday. Which means she'll be in the hospital until probably Saturday. *sigh*

I didn't take the boys this past weekend so I could get some things done around the house. Now I'm going to be struggling to figure out when to see them for the next couple weeks.

Mom needs to relax. She'll be out of work for a few weeks.

I got sooooo much done over the weekend. Still doesn't *look* like I got anything done. But I did. I washed all the kids bedding and pillows. I wrapped Rayce's mattress in plastic and made Rayce's and Charlize's beds. I washed about 4 loads of laundry, other than the bedding, and actually got all the kids laundry put away. I did dishes. I scrubbed the ferret cage, gave them baths and clipped their nails, and gave Samson a bath. I picked up and swept several times. I scrubbed the dining room chairs and booster seats. Last week I cleaned under all the furniture in the living room (oh what fun that was... hasn't been done in a few months!).

Today I'm working in my bedroom. My room is always last on the list. It's where all the clean laundry gets put until it makes it into the dressers and closets. I need to get all my laundry put away. I need to get all the donation stuff OUT of the house and dropped off at the Salvation Army or the PAL center or something. I just need it out so it's not taking up space and tempting me to go through it some more.

I put Mom's new sheets on her bed so she would come home to a nice fresh bed with awesome sheets and a made bed.

I need to get the kids in bed a little early so I can clean and sweep and mop the downstairs tonight after they're in bed so Mom can come home to a clean house. If I do it earlier, it'll be a mess all over again by the time she gets home. I also need to clean the ferret cage tonight so it doesn't have the chance to get too stinky again too soon. Man, those ferrets stink so bad!! I scoop the litterbox every single day and it still stinks, and Neville pretty much refuses to go in the litterbox most of the time and has even started pooping ON some of the bedding (which, I put bedding in all the corners to *keep* them from doing that... it works with the other ferts!).

I've got my girls and my nephews today. Gonna be fun trying to get this much done with 4 kids under my feet.

I just realized I can type pretty much without looking at all. I don't use the correct posture and I don't use the home keys, I don't type "correctly", but I can still do it without looking for the most part. Neat!!

Anyway, gotta get moving again before I lose my motivation. Once I sit at the computer for more than 20 minutes, it's all over for me!

~*BonnieLea*~

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charlizes halloween costume :-D
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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Primary School Open House :'o)

We had Rayce's open house last night. It was awesome, I was soooo looking forward to it!! The teacher designed a 'scavenger hunt' for the evening. It was basically a checklist of things the kids were supposed to show their parents, things like the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom game and the Rainbow Fish book.

His teacher said Rayce is her sunshine of the year. She said every year there is one kid who is just so happy and smart and easy to handle and can make everyone laugh, and this year, it's Rayce. It was a struggle not to cry right there in the classroom. I DID cry when I got home.

:'o)

I am soooo proud. My big boy. My big 5 year old boy. He's so smart, he loves school soooo much.

The last year and a half have been so difficult. I worry so much about the effects that will have on the kids.

But they're doing so well, for the most part. And I am such a blessed and proud Mama :'o)

liliya wants to go shopping. thats my girrrrrl :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

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got the girls watching movies in mamas room while i clean their disaster of a room
~*BonnieLea*~

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More September pictures and updates :o)

It has been a perfectly beautiful September so far. A lot of days have been unseasonably chilly and a few days have been unseasonably warm. Typical upstate NY indecisiveness :o) I absolutely *loooooove* this time of year. September and October are my absolute favorite months of the year (although I do dread them because I know winter follows!!!). The cooler weather, the crisp feeling in the air, cool mornings and warm afternoons... it's the most beautiful time of year.

Rayce is loving school so much that he counts down the days on the weekends until he can go back :o) It makes me soooo happy that he loves school so much!! He is really, really READING! My little boy, who just turned 5 and has never been to school (save for a week in preschool in which I was the teacher), is READING!!! I bought him some BOB books and we're through the 5th one of the compound words and long vowels series. They're starting to have more words he can't sound out... I need to get him the previous series. He is soooo excited when he can read the entire book by himself, and I am sooooo proud of my big boy :'o)

The rest of the kids are doing well. There's nothing much new going on around here lately!! Charlize is still being unbelivably stubborn on the potty training, and I'm just not up to pushing it on her yet. It's easier for me to change more diapers than to have to clean up 5 or 6 accidents every single day. Dante is speaking in full sentences and his words are becoming a lot clearer. Holden is smart as a whip and I wish I had more time to work with him because I know he'd pick up on things quickly. Liliya is learning new words at the speed of light and stringing them together into short sentences.

As for me, I went on a wonderful date yesterday and I'm excited to see what this new chapter might bring :o)

I am a tired, overwhelmed, grateful, and proud Mama :o)

mama: rayce get ur feet

mama: rayce get ur feet away from my underwear. rayce: but mama i like ur hot body. it keeps my feet wm
~*BonnieLea*~

rayce climbs in bed w

rayce climbs in bed w me every morning. he puts his cold feet against me and goes back 2 sleep. today...
~*BonnieLea*~

holden and dantes little sister marley... isnt she flipping *cute*?!?!?!
~*BonnieLea*~

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i got a ponytail in liliyas hair :o) she wanted this beaded holder... i didnt think i could get it in!
~*BonnieLea*~

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~*BonnieLea*~

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the illusive sly. this cat only likes my mom. im only allowed to come close if i pet him. on his terms. he's a brat of a cat!

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~*BonnieLea*~

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finally getting organized and getting the stuff we dont use/need OUT!!!
~*BonnieLea*~

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All's quiet on the homefront...

I haven't been blogging much lately because there hasn't been a whole lot going on!!!

Other than Rayce going to school, of course... but I don't know exactly what goes on there. The typical home from school conversation goes something like this...

Mama: Hey Raycer-bean, did you have fun at school today?
Rayce: Yes. I had chocolate milk at lunch.
Mama: What else did you do today, other than eat lunch?
Rayce: We painted with our hands!
Mama: With finger paints?
Rayce: No, with hand paints.
Mama: Ahhhhh. Very cool. What else did you do, besides hand painting?
Rayce: I don't know. I played outside at recess.

Most days, that's about all I get out of him!

We have open house at his school next week, and I am very much looking forward to it :o)

So far, Rayce *loves* school. He counted down the days till Monday over the weekend :o)

We have had an issue with his behavior after school. I think he's tired. It's like a full time job, him being away and busy at school all day. But he gets off the bus at almost 4pm, and that's too late for him to lay down for a nap (I don't think he would lay down for a nap anyway!). So bedtime has been moved back from 830 pm to 8pm, and that's about the best I can do. I can't put them to bed earlier than 8, or they really will be up at the butt-crack of dawn!!

Dante had a case of the chicken pox for the last couple weeks, which went undiagnosed for most of its course.

Liliya is talking SOOOO much now, saying new words every day and beginning to string words together into short 2-3 word sentences!!!

I'm now only babysitting for my nephews 3 days a week, and I'm enjoying more time with less kiddos. Two days I only have my girls during the day, and that time is cherished! It gives me a chance to catch up on laundry and housework, take a nap with the kids, and spend some real quality time with my girlies :o)

My mom had a 4 vessel cerebral angiogram on Monday as a follow up to the coiling she had done 2 1/2 years ago on an aneurism. The news isn't great... the aneurism has grown and has to be filled in more, and they're going to put a stent in at the opening of the aneurism because it's so large. They'll do this at the beginning of October sometime and she will be out of work for a few weeks. It's a little scary, and it's been weighing on my mind a lot lately.



Other than that, all is quiet on the homefront :o)

Hoping to get some nice fall pics of all 5 kids this weekend, so maybe I'll have something nice to post early next week :o)

samson marcus
~*BonnieLea*~

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raycer all ready for school :o)
~*BonnieLea*~

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can u see the orange on the treeeeeees??
~*BonnieLea*~

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